Anti-abortion agency to have presence at health department

Friday

Oct 5, 2012 at 12:01 AMOct 5, 2012 at 2:41 PM

County officials have given a green light for an anti-abortion group to begin holding office hours in the Gaston County Health Department this week, a move has drawn the ire of abortion rights advocates.

Michael Barrett

County officials have given a green light for an anti-abortion group to begin holding office hours in the Gaston County Health Department this week, a move that has drawn criticism of abortion rights advocates.

The Crisis Pregnancy Center of Gaston County will be the first tenant of what’s being termed a “community office.” The newly converted meeting room at the health department will be provided for free on a first-come, first-serve basis, to local agencies that apply and are approved to use the space. It will be open to groups that offer health, educational or social services-related programs, said Gaston County Health Director Chris Dobbins.

Dobbins said the new initiative’s aim is to provide a wider “buffet” of information to health department visitors, beyond what is normally available from a government entity. He said he knows the Crisis Pregnancy Center’s presence as the first organization to set up shop there will raise eyebrows. But after conferring with county attorneys, he feels it’s safe to proceed.

Supporters of Crisis Pregnancy Centers across North Carolina contend they are attacked simply for providing balanced information to pregnant women about alternatives to abortion.

“We think we’re doing this with the right intentions,” said Dobbins, whose hiring last year was approved by the all-Republican Gaston County Board of Commissioners. “It probably will make some people nervous because it’s not been a partnership that’s ever taken place between the Crisis Pregnancy Center and the health department. But in my humble opinion, we’re trying to do what’s right for the community, to give them options.”

Others are suspicious of the motives behind the venture. Suzanne Buckley, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina, said the selection of the initial tenant seems calculated, and that its presence at the health department borders on inappropriate.

“I think this has the potential to be incredibly misleading,” she said. “These Crisis Pregnancy Centers are not licensed clinics. Doing what they do from the inside of a health department could cloak it as a state-approved service, in a much more official capacity.”

Offering a range of information

Gaston County Commissioner Tracy Philbeck said when Dobbins was hired last year, one of the things they discussed was how to offer more choices to recipients of public services. Someone who comes into the health department seeking information on sex education, for example, typically gets only what the government is mandated to provide, he said.

“What this community room will give them is an option,” said Philbeck. “In my opinion, information is good. Any time you can get education on whatever needs you have, I think it gives you a better opportunity to make the right decisions.”

Many of the health department’s visitors rely on public transportation and can’t get around as easily, Dobbins said. Providing a space for “partner agencies” to hold office hours there will make it more convenient for visitors to get information that may benefit them, he said.

“We’re not trying to say what food you should eat,” said Dobbins, using the buffet example. “We’re just trying to provide options.”

Agencies can apply to reserve the room in four-hour blocks of time, from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. weekdays. Volunteers or staff who will be stationed there will have to go through background checks and receive photo ID cards, like other health department workers.

A group such as Planned Parenthood, which sits on the opposite end of the political fence as the Crisis Pregnancy Center, could also apply, Dobbins said.

The community office is located near the health department’s front desk. Signs in the lobby will indicate which agency is in the community room at any given time. Visitors may wander in there of their own accord, but won’t be directed, Dobbins said.

“As long as (the agency) is not pulling somebody out of the hallway and into the room, we’re going to have a pretty wide range of agencies that can use that space,” he said.

Acceptable partnership?

The Crisis Pregnancy Center has been approved to occupy the community office from 1 to 5 p.m. each Friday. Mary Smith, abstinence educator for the local group, will staff the room.

Smith frequently speaks to male and female students in local schools about practical ways they can say ‘no’ to sex. She said she will offer some of that same guidance to anyone who seeks her input.

If someone wants to talk to her about pregnancy or abortion, Smith said she will feel the situation out.

“Obviously we’re a pro-life organization,” she said. “If someone came in and said I’m pregnant and I don’t know what to do, I would try to talk them through it, and say let’s look at your options. If they say they’re considering an abortion, I’d ask, ‘Are you willing to talk about it?’”

Smith said she would discuss the medical and emotional dangers of abortion. But she will take a passive approach to it.

“We don’t do the guilt trips and the coercion or anything like that,” she said. “We’re not that kind of organization.”

Buckley, the director of NARAL, which stands for National Abortion Rights Action League, couldn’t speak specifically to the Gaston County CPC chapter late last week. But NARAL has criticized Crisis Pregnancy Centers statewide for steering women away from abortions with religious ideology and other tactics she considers deceptive.

She referred to the Gaston County Health Department’s new initiative as an “interesting development.”

“These are religious-based organizations that purport to provide a range of options,” she said. “But in reality they provide misleading information and have a clear conservative agenda. That probably wouldn’t be clear to someone walking in the door of a health department.”

Dobbins said the venture will be assessed for the next three months.

“At the end of 90 days, we’ll take a look at it,” he said. “And we’ll tweak anything we think could be modified or approved.”

You can reach Michael Barrett at 704-869-1826 or twitter.com/GazetteMike.